Unexpected Holiday
by Poggen
Summary: While departing for his first holiday on his own, Drew Hawking runs into something rather unexpected
1. Through the Wall

A/N: This is my first story and it's been rambling around my head wanting to be written so here goes.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the world here, just borrowing it.

'Late again' Nhassa muttered as she looked under the bed for the second time. 'What good is a bloody summoning charm if I can't find my wand?' Having scoured the room she came to the conclusion that it must be elsewhere and took the stairs three at a time down to the sitting room in the spacious house that she shared with her old schoolmate, Glinn Tucker. "Glinn, have you seen my wand?" she asked the woman whose head was, as usual, bent over a book.

This was not an uncommon occurrence. Not even lifting her eyes from the page she picked up her wand with her right hand and held the left in the air. "Accio wand" she said shortly and moments later the errant wand had found its way down the stairs and into her hand. "Have a nice day Nhassa" she said as she turned it over to its owner.

"You too Glinn. Don't study too hard." Both women were just turning twenty-two, having graduated almost four years earlier. Nhassa had landed at the ministry right out of school and now worked in muggle relations, specifically with muggles and their children at Hogwarts. The ties with the school had been firmly reestablished with the arrival of the new Minster last year and Nhassa loved her job and was good at it as well. Each day brought something new and interesting.

In the top ten of their class, Glinn had opted for the most arduous training; that of an auror. She would soon sit her exams which would determine whether or not she had wasted the last four years. Understandably she was a little touchy right now.

Wand in hand she threw her dark maroon cloak over her jeans and t-shirt and disapperated, late as usual.

meanwhile…

The day started out uneventfully. Locking the door on his second floor Clapham Common flat he caught the Brixton tube carrying his backpack with him loaded with cold weather clothing as well as other essentials. Andrew Hawking had taken an entire fortnight to himself away from the hustle and bustle of the city and booked a cottage way up north. The eighteen year old university student was full of anticipation for his first holiday on his own. Head buried in his map he navigated his way north of the river on the tube and then finally through the crowded walkway and onto the platform at Kings Cross. Eagerly he fed the machine his ticket and found his platform. 'I'm going to have to move it,' he thought to himself 'or I'm going to have to catch the next one.' Walking in full stride he looked up in time to realize he was about to run headfirst into a brick wall.

Except that he didn't run into a wall at all. There was a strange sensation but by the time he realized what it was, it was gone. He shook his head and looked around, 'This is a little strange,' he thought. "Where did all the people go?" he muttered aloud. Looking up he found himself looking at a sign that had only appeared in movies and his imagination.

Platform 9 ¾

"You've got to be kidding me," Andrew said in an awed tone while simultaneously trying to remember if he'd eaten any strange mushrooms lately. "It's got to be a dream," he added softly. This was quite obviously the end of the line, and the track ahead was empty with not a soul to be found. Andrew turned and felt the wall behind him which appeared to be solid. There didn't seem to be a way back. He was stuck. "Hello" he called louder now, "Is there anyone here." But there wasn't a sound. Almost convinced this was some kind of a joke he turned around to see a bench sitting against the wall near where he was standing. He took his pack off his shoulders and sat down. 'I guess I'll just have to wait it out,' he thought.

"Oh good Nhassa there you are. We've had a report of something curious and would like you to go check it out," Matthew Hall, her immediate superior said as he entered her small office. Working as independently she did as she often went for months at a time in seeing him but there he was standing in front of her.

"Really, what's that?"

"It seems that someone's crossed the barrier at Kings Cross."

Nhassa's brow furrowed. "That's strange. The only train that runs through there is the Hogwarts Express, and school is still in session."

"That's why it's strange. This man seems to have gotten through the barrier but seems to be unable to get out again. I thought you'd like the adventure."

Her blue eyes sparkled. "It's true I like a good adventure," she said with a smile. "I'll go right now." Hall had barely left her office before she threw her cloak back around her and headed for the apparition point at Kings Cross.

There was a 'pop' off to his right. Andrew stood at the sound and couldn't help but stare. The woman looking back at him had long curly hair that was a chocolate brown color and wore a coat of some kind that looked as though it could have been dipped in merlot wine. Even from the distance he could see the glow of her golden olive skin. His first impression was that she was older but not by much. "Hello?" he asked tentatively.

"Hello," she replied brightly as she shook her curls and then walked over to where Andrew stood. "Are you lost?" she asked.

"I… I'm not sure," he answered momentarily stunned by her sapphire blue eyes. "I was running to catch my train and the next thing I knew I was here. I seem to have come through the wall."

"Where were you trying to go," Nhassa asked wondering if perhaps he'd escaped from one of the locked wards in St. Mungo's.

"I'm taking a train up to Yorkshire to spend a fortnight drawing the moors and buildings," he replied cautiously. "If you don't mind my asking, who are you?"

"How silly of me," she replied as she stuck out her right hand. "Nhassa Trailbeck-Howe, but everyone just calls me Nhassa. I'm pleased to meet you."

He took the hand and couldn't help but notice its smoothness. "My names Drew… Andrew Hawking."

She noticed that he was staring quite hard at her cloak. She added his surprise at her arrival, his gawking her clothing and his explanation at his arrival and came to the only conclusion she could. Her eyes went wide in shock. "You don't… belong here, do you?"

"Lemme guess, you're a friend of Al's and you guys put all of this together to make me feel foolish because I wanted to go by myself, aren't you?" Drew asked with as much bravado as he could muster.

"Maybe you should sit down," Nhassa said and laid a hand gently on his shoulder to guide him back to the bench. "I think something fairly unusual has happened her," she began looking concerned for him and excited at the same time. "You're on Platform 9 and three-quarters. Do you know where that is?"

"That only exists in fiction," Drew said with little determination as he looked back over to the wall he'd appeared through. "Doesn't it?"

"Not entirely," she said carefully. "I don't know how, but you've managed to cross the barrier. You're on the platform that the Hogwarts Express runs from."

There was a pause as Drew stopped to think about what he'd been told. "So you're trying to tell me that the books, the movies, the merchandising... everything is true?

"Well not quite," she answered with a smile. "Of course there are liberties that have taken place but it's true enough that there's a whole world that non-magic folks don't even know exist although it takes place right under their noses. Kind of funny isn't it?"

"So what's different?"

She brushed the question off with a wave of her hand. "There's plenty of time for that later on. Right now is the immediate question of what to do with you. I think the first step is for us to go back to the office and try and figure out where the magic is in your family. That'll help us know what's next." Nhassa stood and patted her cloak as though looking for something. She pulled out a device that looked fairly familiar. "Isn't that..."

"An iPod? Yup, sure is. And convenient things they are too. It's a whole lot easier to download the songs that you want than go to the bother of bewitching something else to do it. Why improve what's already pretty good?" She gave him a smile that revealed a dimple on the left hand side of her face and then pulled her wand from her cloak. She put the iPod on the bench. "Portus."

"A portkey?" he asked.

"Very good," she replied with another smile. "I see you're at least somewhat familiar with our world. That'll make things quite a bit easier. "My office is at the ministry, that's where we'll head to now. Do you have any questions before we go?"

"Is this something that happens often then? I mean, me falling through the gateway and onto the platform."

"Err, well no," she replied with a look of distraction. "Nothing like this has ever happened, at least as far as I know and I deal in muggle relations. Don't worry, we'll make it right. Somehow." Suddenly aware of her concerned expression she once again gave him a dimpled smile. "Go ahead and touch it and we'll be on our way."

Drew put his hand on the iPod and heard Nhassa counting before he felt the strange lurch in his middle as though he was pulled though space. When he looked up he saw Nhassa there smiling at him. "Welcome to the ministry of magic, Drew. Welcome to our world."


	2. At the Ministry

1A/N - Next installment.

Disclaimer: I don't own this world, I just play in it.

Drew looked around him with wide eyes. "I can't believe I'm actually here," he muttered after they appeared in the foyer of the Ministry of Magic.

"I can assure you you're not dreaming," Nhassa said, stifling a giggle. "It's all perfectly real; it's just a different reality."

He looked at her for a long moment. "So what happens now?"

"Well," she drawled out the word, "there have been the occasional rumor of a muggle falling into our world, but as far as I know it's only an urban legend. This is quite...unusual. We need to try and determine out how you got through, and then exactly what to do with you."

"That sounds ominous."

She waved his concern off with a shake and a flick of her hair. "Don't worry, we're not going to boil you and eat you for dinner or anything like that. I want to understand is all... why don't you come with me." She walked toward the entrance and spoke quietly to the guard for a moment and then came back with a visitors pass bearing his name. "We'll go to one of the conference rooms, they're the most comfortable." She began to lead the way.

As they passed down a hallway filled with portraits, Drew took a closer look and sure enough they were moving. Not alive certainly but they had a certain amount of sentience. It was almost eerie the way most of them were staring at him and indeed some of the subjects were following him from one portrait to another down the hall. "I wish they'd mind their own business," he muttered mostly to himself.

"I know, but they can't do you any real harm. Besides, the news is all over the ministry. You're a bit of an attraction, I'm afraid." They walked around several corridors, up half a flight of stairs and then down a whole one, finally coming to a door that was rather ornately carved. Nhassa took her wand and poked the door gently and it opened to reveal the room inside.

It was a large room, filled again with portraits and paintings. The center of the room contained a large, dark table that was polished so it reflected everything else in the room. Around the chair were an assortment of chairs, some plush, some leather and a couple that looked like they would have been at home in Drew's Brixton flat. Ignoring the table, Nhassa led the way to a corner where chairs and couch sat around a much smaller table with a tea service on its surface. "Come on, have a seat," she said with a smile, "and I'll pour us a nice drink. Everything's better after a cup of tea."

Still not sure whether or not to trust her, Drew sat down on one of the chairs in the corner, surprised that it made a slight groaning sound as he sat and he could swear he felt the chair adjust itself to fit him perfectly. Nhassa poured the tea, adding a lump of sugar to her cup and milk to Drew's and seemed to sense his hesitation.

"Don't worry, we're not going to poison you," she said with a smile and took a large sip of her tea. Slightly relieved Drew took a sip of his own and then set the cup and saucer on the table and sat forward in anticipation.

Nhassa leaned slightly forward as well, and put her teacup on the table. "Ah, that's better. "Well I suppose the first step is for you to tell me exactly how you came to cross over the barrier."

"I really don't remember anything," he replied with a confused shake of his head. One minute I was about to run into the wall at the station and the next minute I was on the other platform. I don't know what more there is to say."

"And you didn't know anything about the existence of our world until that moment?"

"Well I read about it in books, and saw the movies, but I had no idea that it was all... real."

"Hmmm," she said as she sat back a little, "And you don't have any family members who disappeared?" she prompted. "Or anyone that might have been called mad...or crazy... or a little odd? No one that people speak about in hushed tones as though they're afraid of disturbing something?"

"I don't know," he said thinking. "I don't think so. Wait a minute! Are you telling me that when people tell stories about strange family members who disappear that they actually belong in your world?"

"Not all the time," she answered, "but enough of it. When a witch or wizard is discovered in a muggle family the family often have a hard time explaining it to their friends and family. Many of them make up the strangest of stories to 'fool' everyone else. It's one of the things that we laugh about sometimes," she confided."

Just then the door opened and a man entered. He had the bearing of one in charge and although Nhassa wasn't intimidated per se, Drew had the distinct feeling that this was someone with a great deal of power and stood to cross over to him. "Ah, Matthew there you are. Matthew Hall, Andrew Hawking," she made introduction edgily.

"Miss Howe, can I have a word with you outside a moment."

"Of course," she said giving an encouraging smile to Drew as she rose and followed him from the room."

"Nhassa, what in the world are you doing bringing someone like that here?" Her bosses face was turning a rather interesting shade of red as a vein threatened to pop loose in his neck. "Why is it that you feel you have the right to ignore protocol in such a grave situation as this. You know that the immediate action is to return this muggle to his world, perform a memory charm and file the report. Instead, you choose to bring him back here! Heaven knows what you've told him already and what damage he might do. What do you have to say for yourself."

Nhassa met his gaze. "Well sir, I suppose I brought him back here because it's the first case of a muggle joining our world accidentally and I wanted to study him so that we can try and determine exactly why this happened and can make the appropriate changes to the entrances to ensure it doesn't happen again." 'Hey that doesn't sound all that bad,' she thought almost convincing herself that her motives were that genuine and had nothing to do with her own curiosity.

He looked at her a long moment while she held her ground. "I suppose that there is some validity to that argument, although I rather think you also enjoy having your own muggle to cart around. All right Nhassa, you have a day to try and find some answers and then he goes back where he came from, do you understand?"

"Certainly," she said with a bounce on the balls of her feet to show her pleasure. "I'll make sure I keep a close eye on him sir."

"You had better," he replied. His face had toned down several levels but she could still tell he wasn't pleased. The concession she'd just won was a major victory though, and she wasn't going to test her luck any further. With a smile and a nod she turned and walked back into the conference room.

Drew was out of his chair and standing by the wall, his nose scant inches from one of the pictures, apparently investigating it. The usual occupant was in the next portrait over, telling Drew in no uncertain terms exactly what he thought of this invasion. He turned as he heard the door open.

"Good news," she said brightly. "I've been given permission to try some experiments so we can determine exactly how you came to fall through the barrier," she said conveniently neglecting to mention a time frame or memory charms.

"That's...good." Drew replied a little hesitantly, wondering what she had planned by way of experiment. "What do we do now."

"Now we head for Diagon Alley."


End file.
